Some stakeholders have asked the Federal Executive Council to look into what they describe as “poor arrangements” being made by the National Population Commission concerning procurement of important equipment needed for the national census holding in 2023.
The concerned stakeholders, including partners of the commission, workers and civil society groups, in a statement on Tuesday, alleged that the way the commission was planning to procure equipment for the national exercise could jeopardise the success of the assignment.
They claimed the supply of very important materials had been given to five companies belonging to the same person, saying this could make the exercise to flop and waste the huge resources the government had committed to it.
According to them, it will be a huge disaster if Nigeria fails to get it right this time around, saying government must do everything to stop the project from failing.
They said the leadership of the commission was set to present five companies to the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday as those approved for the procurement of equipment for the exercise.
The stakeholders claimed that all the companies belong to just one person, saying this had heightened the concern of the workers and partners of the commission for the success of the exercise.
According to them, the plan is not only unsafe for an exercise as important as a national census, but also not morally right as many other companies have been deemed to have qualified for the project.
